Treasure in Jars of Clay

Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties. --C. H. Spurgeon

Think about this statement for a moment.  How many of your greatest successes where attributed to your greatest failures?  The hard times you had as a child that made you make up your mind to work harder to achieve your goals.  The job you loss that made you go back to school and obtain your degree so you could work in the field you dreamed about long ago.  The troubled marriage that made you wear out your knee pads.  The wayward child that drew you closer to God and was your inspiration for starting that center for troubled teens.  Even though we may not find much enjoyment in our hard times, they serve a purpose.  I know you have heard this time and time again.  But do you really believe it?  Do you believe that there is a divine gift behind every problem.  I do.  There is something buried deep down inside of you that God needs to bring out of you so that you can be used for His glory.  I wasn't able to fully embrace the call that God had on my life as an encourager until I was brought down to my lowest state.  A place where I could only rely on God and no one else. 

II Corinthians 4:7 says it best.  'But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us'.  If you are able to do anything it is because of the power of God that worketh within you.  You see, the believer is no stranger to crisis.  We are told that they would come and that we would be able to endure them.  They come to test our level of maturity.  They test the nature of our faith. The strength of our commitment.  They also stand to see how teachable we are.  In fact, depending on our measure of teachability, it may determine how long we stay in the storm.  One thing that I have learned is when I go ahead and submit to God while in the storm I handle it a lot better.  When I confess my disobedience to Him and allow Him to clean out my heart and take control of my mind, the storm doesn't seem all that bad.  When storms arise we become aware of our weaknesses.  We see how truly vulnerable we are.  God doesn't offer us security from the storms but He does offer us security while in the storm.  That is the hope we have.  'We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed...II Corinthians 4:8-9. Paul used these metaphors to show that even though we are knocked down, we do not stay there. Knocked down but not out.  Storms may come to affect every part of our life.  When Hurricane Katrina came, thousands of people lost everything.  Yet if you were to find some of those people today, you will see them living out their biggest dream.   Our weaknesses do not cripple us.  Everyone of us will fail at something.  But with God we must realize that our failures are not fatal.  We must fail forward.  Allow God to do the necessary work in you so that when He gets through with you, you will come forth as pure gold.  Did you know that pure gold has the highest value?   Although the storm comes to test your faith, the benefit is totally yours. 

Most Gracious Heavenly Father,

Thou who made me and knows all about me. Father, open my eyes so that I may see the lesson behind the storm.  I confess any disobedience that I may have committed against you and any sins against my fellow man.  Help me to look forward past my failures to my future success in You, instead of looking back.  Open my ears to hear Your voice to follow the direction you are taking me in.  Let me continue in prayer and praise so that your name can be glorified.  In Jesus' Wonderful Name I pray Amen.